Amidst a slew of prototype leaks and benchmark app revelations, Samsung has finally decided to offer up something official about the upcoming Galaxy S3. Although some sources had pegged a dual-core chip as its powerplant, Samsung now says that the quad-core Exynos 4212 will drive the company’s next hero phone.

Samsung’s Taehoo Kim cleared the air in a press release, noting that the High-K Metal Gate processors are already in production. They’ll show up first in “Samsung’s next Galaxy smartphone that will officially be announced in May,” but Kim also mentions that other “major handset makers” are currently sampling the Exynos 4212 as well — so you may eventually see it in Android phones and tablets without Samsung’s name on them.

This might just be the worst-kept secret about the Galaxy S3. Samsung announced the Exynos 4212 dual-core chips back in September of 2011, and by November industry insiders were already dropping hints that the quad-core 4412 would wind up powering the S3.

The curious part here is that a set of benchmarks recently popped up on AnTuTu that showed the phone running a dual-core Exynos 4212 clocked at 1.4GHz. Whether that’s a misdirect on Samsung’s part or just someone in the Android community having fun, the truth is crystal clear now. You couldn’t have expected Samsung to let the HTC One X double up the GS3 in terms of raw processing power, could you?

All that’s left to be revealed is the clock speed — 1.4GHz has been previously tipped, but we won’t know the whole truth until Samsung Mobile Unpacked next month.